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Motorsport
Vladimír Berger
Always a Favorit
A member of the Škoda Motorsport factory team from 1988 to 1994, he played a significant role in the successes of the competition version of the Favorit model.
Still devoted to rallying today
Vladimír Berger has been actively involved in rallying for over 40 years. Despite knee problems, he has no intention of just quitting. Motorsport has not only brought him numerous successes, but above all, he still enjoys it.
Vladimír Berger (1957)
Connected to Škoda Auto not only as a factory team race driver from 1988 to 1994, but also as an employee in technical development. For over four decades, he focused primarily on chassis tuning, contributing, for example, to the success of the Octavia and other models.
Vladimír Berger had been close to rallying and Škoda Auto from a young age, which is why he began an apprenticeship there and later worked as a test driver in development. "In 1984, engineer Zdeněk Petera and I built our own Škoda 120 special and entered regional competitions," he says, describing his early days in rallying. The crew's success came almost immediately, and Berger rose through the ranks of national competitions all the way to the Czechoslovak Federal Championship.
7 million
That's how many kilometres Vladimír Berger has driven. "Of those, at least five million were during test drives of production car prototypes or in rallies, so at a really fast pace," he recalls.
11
That's how many FIA World Rally Championship events Vladimír Berger competed in with the Favorit model. He started twice in the legendary Monte-Carlo Rally, three times in the British RAC Rally, and also competed in events in San Remo, Catalonia and the Finnish 1000 Lakes Rally.
Škoda Motorsport couldn't help but notice the talented driver's performance. They decided to leverage his experience in the development of the production Favorit model, driving hundreds of kilometres daily in its prototypes during test runs. During the development year of the competition version, V. Berger competed in races with a car that was not yet homologated, and in 1989 and 1990, he won the championship title in the Group N class up to 1,300 cm³ with the Favorit model. He also participated in international competitions and competed in the European and World Championships with the Favorit special.
Favorit
The model associated with the transformation of the Škoda brand saw several competition variants. In the case of rallying, these were modifications for the more powerful Group A and the "more production-oriented" Group N. In the latter, the car had an output of 49.8 kW, yet Vladimír Berger managed to defeat even significantly more powerful competitors with it and win the national championship twice.
After the 1994 season and the introduction of the Felicia Kit Car competition special, his involvement with the factory racing department came to an end. "It was already a more demanding car to operate and required a reduction in the team," comments V. Berger. He remembers the competition Favorit fondly. "It was already a very over-engineered car from the production series, so even with minimal modifications, it could withstand a lot. And it worked great," he explains. To this day, Berger occasionally takes one such car to historic car rallies.
Interview
What are your memories of the competition-spec Favorit?
It was an excellent car. And actually, it could have been even better; unfortunately, the timing wasn’t on our side. We had a Favorit ready with a pair of Solex carburettors, which produced up to 125 horsepower. But in 1989, the first European emissions standard at the time (the predecessor to the Euro standards—ed.) came into effect, and this version didn’t meet it. And given the development timeline, we didn’t manage to homologate the car before it was introduced. So we had to make do with the standard version with a single carburetor, which never made it into the Group N version with over 70 horsepower.
How did such a car work?
It was allowed only minimal modifications; even the boot lid had to remain. Due to mandatory safety equipment such as the roll cage and other components, it was perhaps up to 50 kilograms heavier than the production model. But it worked great. It had a great foundation and was durable.
What could the Favorit endure?
I remember, for example, the Acropolis Rally Greece. There were literally killer special stages for the cars—500 to 600 kilometers during which the cars suffered. The Favorit had a stock rear axle, a stock fuel tank, reinforced control arms, and we had minimal problems with it. And it also handled superbly. It was easy to service, which, by the way, is why I bought it years ago to compete in historic car rallies. Even at my age and with my health, I can change the transmission myself—something I couldn’t do with the Škoda 130 LR I had before.
You worked for a long time as a test driver in Škoda’s passenger car development. Did you ever get to work on tuning factory competition cars?
Not really anymore; after returning to Česana, I focused on test drives of production cars under development, which became increasingly demanding work as Škoda Auto’s line-up expanded. I worked on practically all models and derivatives, from the first Octavia to the third-generation Octavia RS. But during the development of the Fabia S2000, I drove it for two days on the test track, and we tested various technical solutions for the power steering.
But you haven’t stopped competing.
I officially retired in 2019, but I certainly haven’t hung up my racing suit. I’m still involved in historic car rallying; until the 2023 season, we drove a Škoda 130 LR, which is also the car I had my only serious accident in. Since 2024, I’ve been driving a Favorit. This year won’t be much of a season due to knee surgery, but I still enjoy it.